Coolbaugh double murder case: Guilty plea could net up to 80 years in prison

Tuesday

Mar 25, 2014 at 12:01 AM

A 30-year-old Pocono Summit man awaits sentencing after pleading guilty Monday to two counts of third-degree murder in the August 2012 shootings of two Stroud Township men in Coolbaugh Township.

ANDREW SCOTT

A 30-year-old Pocono Summit man awaits sentencing after pleading guilty Monday to two counts of third-degree murder in the August 2012 shootings of two Stroud Township men in Coolbaugh Township.

With his trial still scheduled for July in case he decides to withdraw his guilty plea, Luis Vasquez, 30, originally was going to try for an insanity or mental infirmity defense, said defense attorney John McMahon Jr., but instead decided to plead guilty in the deaths of Bertoldo Velez, 55, and Joseph King, 38.

Under state law, third-degree murder involves malice or recklessness and wanton disregard for another's life, whereas first-degree murder involves premeditation and a specific intent to kill. Under state sentencing guidelines, Vasquez could face 20 to 40 years in state prison on each of the two third-degree murder counts, as opposed to execution or life without parole if he decides to withdraw his plea, goes to trial and is convicted.

A Guatemala native who speaks only Spanish and has an eighth-grade education, Vasquez appeared with McMahon and a translator Monday before Monroe County President Judge Margherita Patti Worthington. His family sat behind him while Velez's family sat on the other side of the courtroom.

Through his translator, Vasquez told Worthington he was knowingly and voluntarily pleading guilty, not having been threatened or coerced by anyone, and that he was mentally clear enough to understand what he was doing and the result.

He told the judge he understood he was giving up his right to a fair trial and that his post-sentencing appeal can challenge only his guilty plea's validity, whether this particular court has jurisdiction over the plea and the legality of the sentence imposed. He said he understood that, by pleading guilty as opposed to going to trial, he was giving up his right to have his post-sentencing appeal challenge more than just those three issues.

Vasquez remains in Monroe County Correctional Facility without bail. The county Probation Office will put together a pre-sentencing investigation report, information from which the judge will consider when deciding how severe a sentence to impose for this particular offense under state guidelines.

A Pocono Mountain Regional Police officer on patrol the morning of Aug. 17, 2012, discovered Velez's and King's bodies in and next to Velez's car, which was near the Coolbaugh Township Park's athletic fields off Route 423.

Both men had been shot multiple times. Velez was lying on the ground next to the car, near a rock that apparently had been used to smash his head in.

On Velez's body was a note written in Spanish reading, "You thought you could hide, but we found you," police said.

Police said Vasquez told them the following:

He owed thousands of dollars to Velez, who had been loaning people money. Vasquez had been paying off the debt little by little and was supposed to meet Velez at the park the night of Aug. 16, 2012, to pay some more.

A group of Italians approached Vasquez about a week prior to the murders, Vasquez told police. They asked Vasquez if he knew Velez, and Vasquez said he did, at which point they told Vasquez: "You'll be hearing from us again."

The Italians returned on the night of Aug. 16, had Vasquez get into their vehicle and then blindfolded him while three of them got into his vehicle and drove off. The three returned in his vehicle about two hours later, at which point they let him go and told him, "Just be glad the beef isn't with you."

Richard LaBar later told police he was working on a house in Vasquez's development Sept. 4, 2012, more than two weeks after the murders.

LaBar said he was walking on Vacation Lane when he spotted a black bag in a ditch, which police later found to be 75 to 100 yards from Vasquez's home. LaBar said he dumped the bag's contents and discovered a .45-caliber handgun, sneakers, pants, a shirt and gloves.

Police at the murder scene found shell casings compatible to the gun. Police said DNA on a white cloth glove matched Vasquez's, that DNA on both the outside of a latex glove and a blood stain on the pants matched Velez's and that DNA found on both the inside of the latex glove and in blood stains on the rock matched both men's.